Bill StarkSaturday, February 11, 2012

"Ben's deck is like, fifteen first picks and eight third picks," Juza whined with a smile as he sat down to face his teammate and friend in the ninth round of competition at Pro Tour Dark Ascension. Ben Stark (no relation to this author) was a renowned Limited strategist, and the go-to man for team ChannelFireball for determining the cut of new Limited formats. His advice had been in high demand on the weekend at the world debut of the Dark Ascension/Innistrad format at the professional level without the assistance of Magic Online.

Juza had come this far in the event with his teammate's help, but now he'd be left to his own devices to try to beat the Limited mastermind that was Stark.

Teammates Martin Juza and Ben Stark are paired against each other in the first round of Saturday.

Game 1

Champion of the Pariah and Chapel Geist led the way for Stark, who appeared to be playing a mono white deck as he opened on three Plains. His opponent, meanwhile, took three turns before finally casting an Ulvenwald Bear with no morbid trigger. Travel Preparations with flashback made Stark's team even more imposing.

"Give me a chance," Juza sighed as he reached for his pen to mark life totals.

A second copy of Travel Preparations, once again with flashback, the following turn left Juza's head spinning. "I have to chump block on turn four?" He cried, before adding after some math, "I'm just dead..."

Is it over yet? Can I look now?

Martin Juza 0, Ben Stark 1

"That was a close game," Juza teased his opponent as they shuffled for the second game.

The ChannelFireball team had determined that the new draft format was all about aggro, and the ninth round feature match seemed to indicate they were correct. The players traded combat blows back and forth with small two-power creatures ruling the red zone. A Ranger's Guile for Juza took out one of his opponent's threats while a Fiend Hunter for Stark returned the favor. The game churned on but it looked like the deciding factor would be Stark's mana screw: he was stuck on three plains while his opponent had all he needed and refused to miss a spell drop.

After a few turns of missing on his fourth mana Stark packed it in. "So all I have to do is have the perfect draw?" Juza asked no one in particular.

"Mana screw. That's what happens when you draft a deck this good," Stark murmured, shuffling his cards.

Martin Juza 1, Ben Stark 1

While sideboarding for Game 3, and I swear this is true, Stark and Juza debated strategy for getting lunch at Subway. "Sometimes you've gotta double meat," Stark remarked of the popular American chain sandwich shop. "They skimp on the meat!"

Game 3

Juza spent the opening of the final game in the match agonizing over whether he should mulligan, then after deciding he should, he debated whether he should do it again. He resignedly kept his hand of six and was soon being pummeled by a Thraben Heretic wearing Bonds of Faith while his Hinterland Hermit tried to work the red zone in his favor.

"There's nothing good than can happen here for me," Stark said resignedly, trying to figure out a profitable block as his opponent continued pressuring him in the red zone.

The life totals stood at 11-5 in Juza's favor and Stark felt he had no choice but to alpha strike with his only creatures: Thraben Militia (formerly Sentry) and Loyal Cathar (formerly Loyal). Juza went into the tank to figure out blocks, but opted to take 7. As soon as he did so his opponent extended his hand in defeat.

"Good game," Stark said, disappointed in his mana screwed loss but respectful of his friend's victory.